Pakatan reps stage walkout from Dewan
Pakatan MPs walked out of the Dewan today after the Speaker had ordered Azmin Ali and Hanipa Maidin to be expelled
Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians today staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat in support of their two colleagues who were ordered out – separately – by the speaker for raising questions.
First to be ordered out was Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), for refusing to stand down when arguing over his motion to debate the alleged misconduct of Court of Appeal judges who had sentenced Anwar Ibrahim to jail for sodomy II.
Soon, Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia ejected Hanipa Maidin (PAS-Sepang), for interrupting proceedings by raising a question.
Following these two expulsions, the remaining Pakatan reps in the House all agreed to give the morning proceedings a miss in protest. They will rejoin the session after lunch.
Earlier, Azmin had requested the Speaker move his motion higher up the order paper, to allow the House to debate the conduct of judges Aziah Ali, Balia Yusuf Wahi and Mohd Zawawi Salleh during Anwar’s sodomy appeal on March 7.
But Pandikar refused, telling Azmin that the motions were organised based on who filed first.
“I understand you. But if I allow you to argue even until 5pm, my decision remains the same. Now sit down, Gombak,” Pandikar ordered.
However Azmin refused to sit despite being ordered do to so repeatedly, prompting Pandikar to call the guards to escort the Gombak MP out of the Dewan.
“I cannot leave the hall without an explanation from the Speaker,” said Azmin, although he was eventually forced to leave.
Azmin later told reporters in the Parliament lobby that he found it unreasonable for his motion to be listed at the end of the order paper.
“The motion is important and should be given more priority. The motions regarding government affairs ended at number 6, so why was my motion not listed as number seven?” he asked.
“The other private members’ bills could have easily been postponed for later. My motion was supported by 63 MPs.”
Shortly after Azmin’s expulsion, Hanipa also received his marching orders.
Hanipa was ejected by Pandikar when he stood to ask a question on Air Asia’s delay in shifting to KLIA 2 in May.
Speaking to reporters, Hanipa said he stood up to invoke the Standing Order 22(1) to raise a question
However, Pandikar did not like the interruption and ordered Hanipa to leave the Dewan.
Following this, all opposition MPs walked out of the Dewan in support for their expelled parliamentarians.
Azmin won’t give up
Earlier, while rebuking Azmin, Pandikar explained that according to Standing Order 15, motions regarding government affairs would be prioritised.
“We included your motion in the order paper because it was signed by more than one-fourth of the Dewan, as per Article 127 of the Federal Constitution. But Standing Order 15 states that government affairs must come first. Sit down, Gombak,” said Pandikar.
Motions one to six in the order paper today related to government affairs, while the remaining 15 were private members’ bills. Azmin’s motion was listed last in today’s order paper.
Pandikar told Azmin that if he wished to have his motion debated in the Dewan today, he could negotiate the matter with Shahidan Kassim, the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs.
But Azmin argued that given the “substantive nature” of his motion, as well as Article 127 of the constitution, his motion should be prioritised.
